Beggars scaring off shoppers in Fremantle, business furious at council inaction

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Fremantle businesses are being driven to the brink by aggressive vagrants and professional beggars scaring customers off the strip.

Store owners and staff have vented their frustration at daily confrontations with abusive homeless people, an increasing number of whom they say catch public transport there because of its reputation as a soft touch on anti-social behaviour.

And they have taken aim at Fremantle council for its refusal to address the problem, which they say is killing off trade in already difficult conditions.

During the course of two short visits to Fremantle’s main dining and shopping precinct over the course of a week The Sunday Times witnessed:

A MAN openly urinating on the side of St John’s Anglican Church in Kings Square, the site of a $270 million renewal project. Human excrement was clearly visible outside the back door to a nearby store.

SHOPPERS sitting at benches on the High Street Mall getting up to leave in a hurry after two nearby homeless men broke out in a loud argument and shoving match.

CLEARLY alcohol or drug-affected men in various states of undress approaching shoppers and asking for money.

Camera IconSam Pangiarella, owner of Warren’s Menswear.

Sam Pangiarella, owner of Warrens Menswear for two decades, said without action it would not be long before even more “for lease” signs began appearing in windows.

It is not an easy thing and I believe more has to be done for those that have genuinely fallen on tough times but for some of them I think it’s a lifestyle choice.Sam Pangiarella.

“They’ve all got phones and smoke and some of them openly sell drugs.

“Just yesterday I saw someone hand one of them 20¢ and they just took it out of their cup and threw it on the floor in disgust. It’s a money-making racket for some of them.”

Across the road at Terrace Men, Nick Capozzi said he was constantly on the phone to the Fremantle Community Safety Team asking them to shift belligerent vagrants from outside his store.

“You ask them to move and they scream abuse at you and say it’s crown land and they can sit wherever they want,” Mr Capozzi said.

“I’ve even seen them work in teams to beg. They’ll switch every few hours while the other one wanders off and does who knows what.

“It’s had a terrible effect on the whole of Freo, it’s horrible.”

Clear Skincare manager Maria Sousa said the issues were worst in the late afternoon and early evening when the beauty salon was one of the only nearby businesses still open.

“We’ve had someone urinate on our shop front while female staff were trapped inside with no idea what to do,” she said.

“I think it is the ones coming from the city who are the real problem. They tend to be more drug-affected, they’re dazed and confused and randomly can be very aggressive.”

Two other nearby store owners would only speak on condition of anonymity for fear of backlash from customers, hinting at the deep fissure that has emerged between residents and businesses over how to deal with the intimidating and anti-social behaviour of some homeless people and beggars.

“Not two days go past without them out there fighting and yelling and throwing chairs around,” said one.

It is terrifying for customers, it’s killing my business and nobody wants to do anything about it.

Camera IconHomeless people and beggars abusing people in Fremantle is a persistent and growing issue.

The City of Fremantle does not keep a record of the number of complaints it has received about homelessness or begging, but since 2017 its Community Safety Team has tracked “engagements” related to both issues.

Last year, the number of engagements related to the homeless dropped to 515 compared with 636 in 2017. Begging was down to 450 from 554 the previous year.

In early 2016 Fremantle placed collections boxes throughout the city centre benefiting St Patrick’s Community Support Centre as part of a program designed to give people an alternative to handing money over to beggars

“We started Donate Without Doubt because of concerns that some of the opportunistic begging that we were seeing around Fremantle was not necessarily related to homelessness and was discouraging people from giving to those in genuine need,” Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt, on leave this week, said in a statement.

“We’re really pleased that over the past three years we’ve given more than $17,000 to St Pat’s.”

Responding to questions about anti-social homelessness and beggars, acting Fremantle Mayor Ingrid Waltham said it was important to realise it was not a crime to be homeless and that addressing the problem required a joint commitment from local and State government, police, the private sector and not-for-profits.

“The City of Fremantle is very proactive in trying to manage homeless people and beggars, but in a compassionate and respectful way.

“We have a dedicated Community Safety Team patrolling the City and engaging with homeless people — not just moving them on to another locality but genuinely trying to help them by referring them to support services and community outreach groups.

“But our Community Safety Team are not police officers. They have no capacity to issue move-on notices and don’t have the power to arrest people.”

St Pat’s chief executive Michael Piu he understood the concerns of business owners but that a “very small proportion” of the homeless that caused issues.

“We know that many people are uncomfortable with encountering begging in Fremantle,” he said.

“It’s one of the reasons St Pat’s supports the Raise The Rate campaign. Newstart is just too low to live on, and we think that everyone in our community will benefit if we increase that income support.”

Community Services Minister and Fremantle MP Simone McGurk said on any given night more than 9000 people across WA experienced homelessness.

“I understand the frustration people in the community feel in regard to antisocial behaviour which is sometimes linked with homelessness in the area,” she said. “I have sympathy for Freo businesses who this impacts, and want to work constructively with service providers, Fremantle Council and the community itself to implement constructive solutions.

“Most people would recognise that homelessness is a complex community issue, often caused by difficult social and economic factors like family breakdowns, mental illness, family and domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse and employment issues.”